Windows 10: Fact vs. fiction

It's a few days before Windows 10 is officially slated to drop, and still, confusion abounds. Worse, many fallacies regarding Microsoft's plans around upgrades and support for Win10 remain in circulation, despite efforts to dispel them.

Here at InfoWorld, we've been tracking Windows 10's progress very closely, reporting the evolving technical details with each successive build in our popular "Where Windows 10 stands right now" report. We've also kept a close eye on the details beyond the bits, reporting on the common misconceptions around Windows 10 licensing, upgrade paths, and updates. If you haven't already read that article, you may want to give it a gander. Many of the fallacies we pointed out six weeks ago are still as fallacious today -- and you'll hear them repeated as fact by people who should know better.

Here, with Windows 10 nearing the finish line, we once again cut through the fictions to give you the true dirt -- and one juicy conjecture -- about Windows 10, in hopes of helping you make the right decisions regarding Microsoft's latest Windows release when it officially lands July 29.

Conjecture: Windows Insiders already have the "final" version of Windows 10

Give or take a few last-minute patches, members of the Windows Insider program may already have what will be the final version of Win10. Build 10240, with applied patches, has all the hallmarks of a first final "general availability" version.

If you're in the Insider program, either Fast or Slow ring, and your computer's been connected to the Internet recently, you've already upgraded, automatically, to the Windows 10 that's likely headed out on July 29. No, I can't prove it. But all the tea leaves point in that direction. Don't be surprised if Terry Myerson announces on July 29 that Insiders are already running the "real" Windows 10 -- and have been running it for a couple of weeks. Everyone else can get a feel for the likely "final" Windows 10, build 10240, by checking out our ongoing Windows 10 beta coverage at "Where Windows stands right now."

Fact: Windows 10 has a 10-year support cycle

Like Windows Vista, Win7, and Win8 before it, Windows 10 has a 10-year support cycle. In fact, we're getting a few extra months for free: According to the Windows Lifecycle fact sheet, mainstream support ends Oct. 13, 2020, and extended support ends Oct. 14, 2025. Of course, if your sound card manufacturer, say, stops supporting Windows 10, you're out of luck.

I have no idea where Microsoft's statement about covering Windows 10 "for the supported lifetime of the device" came from. It sounds like legalese that was used to waffle around the topic for seven frustrating months. Microsoft's publication of the Lifecycle fact sheet shows that Windows 10 will be supported like any other version of Windows. (XP's dates were a little different because of SP2.)

Fiction: The 10 years of support start from the day you buy or install Windows 10

There's been absolutely nothing from Microsoft to support the claim that the Win10 support clock starts when you buy or install Windows 10, a claim that has been attributed to an industry analyst.

The new Windows 10 lifecycle and updating requirements look a lot like the old ones, except they're accelerated a bit. In the past we had Service Packs, and people had a few months to get the Service Packs installed before they became a prerequisite for new patches. With Windows 8.1, we had the ill-fated Update 1: You had to install Update 1 before you could get new patches, and you only had a month (later extended) to get Update 1 working. The new Windows 10 method -- requiring customers to install upgrades/fixes/patches sequentially, in set intervals -- looks a whole lot like the old Win 8.1 Update 1 approach, although corporate customers in the Long Term Servicing Branch can delay indefinitely.

Fact: You can clean install the (pirate) Windows 10 build 10240 ISO right now and use it without entering a product key

Although it isn't clear how long you'll be able to continue to use it, the Windows 10 build 10240 ISO can be installed and used without a product key. Presumably, at some point in the future you'll be able to feed it a new key (from, say, MSDN), or buy one and use it retroactively.

Fiction: You can get a free upgrade to Windows 10 Pro from Win7 Home Basic/Premium, Win8.1 ("Home" or "Core"), or Win8.1 with Bing

A common misconception is that you can upgrade, for free, from Windows 7 Home Basic or Home Premium, Windows 8.1 (commonly called "Home" or "Core"), or Windows 8.1 with Bing, to Windows 10 Pro. Nope, sorry -- all of those will upgrade to Windows 10 Home. To get to Windows 10 Pro, you would then have to pay for an upgrade, from Win10 Home to Pro.

Fact: No product key is required to upgrade a "genuine" copy of Win7 SP1 or Win8.1 Update

According to Microsoft, if you upgrade a "genuine" copy of Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8.1 Update, come July 29 or later, Windows 10 won't require a product key. Instead, keep Home and Pro versions separate -- upgrade Home to Home, Pro to Pro. If you upgrade and perform a Reset (Start, Settings, Update & Security, Recovery, Reset this PC) you get a clean install of Windows 10 -- again, per Microsoft. It'll take a few months to be absolutely certain that a Reset performs an absolutely clean install, but at this point, it certainly looks that way.

Another common misconception is that Microsoft requires users have a Microsoft account to install, use, or manage Windows 10. In fact, local accounts will work for any normal Windows 10 activity, although you need to provide a Microsoft account in the obvious places (for example, to get mail), with Cortana, and to sync Edge.

Fact: If your tablet runs Windows RT, you're screwed

Microsoft has announced it will release a new version of Windows RT, called Windows RT 3, in September. If anybody's expecting it to look anything like Windows 10, you're sorely mistaken. If you bought the original Surface or Surface RT, you're out of luck. Microsoft sold folks an obsolete bucket of bolts that, sad to say, deserves to die. Compare that with the Chromebook, which is still chugging along.

Fiction: Microsoft pulled Windows Media Player from Windows 10

One word here seems to be tripping up folks. What Microsoft has pulled is Windows Media Center, which is a horse of a completely different color. If you're thinking of upgrading your Windows Media Center machine to Windows 10, you're better off retiring it and buying something that actually works like a media center. WMP is still there, although I wonder why anybody would use it, with great free alternatives like VLC readily available.

Fiction: Windows 10 is a buggy mess

In my experience, Windows 10 build 10240 (and thus, presumably, the final version) is quite stable and reasonably fast, and it works very well. There are anomalies -- taskbar icons disappear, some characters don't show up, you can't change the picture for the Lock Screen, lots of settings are undocumented -- and entire waves of features aren't built yet. But for day-to-day operation, Win10 works fine.

Fact: The current crop of "universal" apps is an electronic wasteland

Microsoft has built some outstanding universal apps on the WinRT foundation, including the Office trilogy, Edge, Cortana, and several lesser apps, such as the Mail/Calendar twins, Solitaire, OneNote, and the Store. But other software developers have, by and large, ignored the WinRT/universal shtick. You have to wonder why Microsoft itself wasn't able to get a universal OneDrive or Skype app going in time for July 29. Even Rovio has given a pass on Angry Birds 2 for the universal platform. Some games are coming (such as Rise of the Tomb Raider), but don't expect a big crop of apps for the universal side of Windows 10 (and, presumably, Windows 10 Mobile) any time soon.

Fiction: Microsoft wants to control us by forcing us to go to Windows 10

I hear variations on this theme all the time, and it's tinfoil-hat hooey. Microsoft is shifting to a different way of making money with Windows. Along the way, it's trying out a lot of moves to reinvigorate the aging cash cow. Total world domination isn't one of the options. And, no, the company isn't going to charge you rent for Windows 10, though it took seven months to say so, in writing.

Win7 and Win8 machines won't quite upgrade directly to Win10. You need Windows 7 Service Pack 1, or Windows 8.1 Update 1, in order to perform the upgrade. If you don't have Windows 7 SP1, Microsoft has official instructions that'll get you there from Windows 7. If you're still using Windows 8, follow these official instructions to get to Windows 8.1 Update. Technically, there's a middle step on your way to Win10.

Fact: We have no idea what will happen when Microsoft releases a really bad patch for Windows 10

If there's an Achilles' heel in the grand Windows 10 scheme, it's forced updates for Windows 10 Home users and Pro users not attached to update servers. As long as Microsoft rolls out good-enough-quality patches -- as it's done for the past three months -- there's little to fear. But if a real stinker ever gets pushed out, heaven only knows how, and how well, Microsoft will handle it.

Fact: You'd have to be stone-cold crazy to install Windows 10 on a production machine on July 29

There isn't one, single killer app that you desperately need on July 29. Those in the know have mountains of questions, some of which won't be answered until we see how Win10 really works and what Microsoft does to support it. If you want to play with Windows 10 on a test machine, knock yourself out. I will, too. But only a certified masochist would entrust a working PC to Windows 10, until it's been pushed and shoved and taken round several blocks, multiple times.

You have until July 29, 2016, to take advantage of the free upgrade. There's no rush. Microsoft won't run out of bits.

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